What's it rated? Not rated
When? 2016
Where's it showing? Amazon Prime
Co-writer/director Sang-ho Yeon (The King of Pigs, The Fake) helms this foreign-language zombie flick, and if you're thinking, "Why in the world do we need yet another zombie flick," watch and find out. At the center of the story are young Soo-an (Su-an Kim) and her divorced workaholic fund manager father, Seok-woo (Gong Yoo). Seok-woo is a neglectful father, and as her birthday approaches, Soo-an asks him to let her take the train to her mother's. Despite his busy schedule, he reluctantly agrees to take an early morning train to Busan and deliver her to her mother.
Once on the train, chaos breaks out when an infected girl boards at the last second and almost immediately attacks an attendant, starting a chain reaction of infection, death, and zombies. The claustrophobic train setting revs up the danger. What makes this zombie flick rise above is its handling of personal relationships and Seok-woo's character arc as the trauma of the moment presents opportunities to overcome his selfishness.
In particular, Seok-woo and Soo-an's interactions with a young pregnant couple—working class Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seol) and his wife, Seong-kyeon (Yu-mi Jung)—bring a lot of pathos to the story. There are good guys ready to risk all and selfish guys like business executive Yon-suk (Eui-sung Kim), who you really want to see attacked and torn apart, but watching Seok-woo transcend his selfishness and win over his daughter is the film's heart. (in Korean and Hawaiian; 117 min.) Δ